A Hunter's Will
by 7th Alice
Summary: "Bring the Snake Shield with you. The Hunter Cheney will ask to join your clan." My take on the life of Cheney, one of FFTA's secret characters, before he decided to sign in to Marche's Clan.


**A/N:** I was writing backstories for all my clan members earlier. When I was writing Cheney's, I suddenly wanted to try turn his story into a whole fic, so here goes~

Mainly doing this for fun and practice. Enjoy ^^

Disclaimer: FFTA (c) Square Enix

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**Chapter 1: Grow Up and Be Strong**

_'Cheney, grow up and be a strong Hunter, alright, son? Haha, that's the spirit. I'll see you and your Mom when I get back next year, okay? And of course, I won't forget to bring you souvenirs!_

_Oh, and one more thing. You're a good kid, so promise me to—…'_

A faded childhood memory of the last day he saw his father flashed before his mind as 23-years-old Cheney let go of his arrow. He was distracted and, needless to say, missed his target.

He straightened his posture, shook his head and sighed, constantly bothered by not being able to remember the last segment of those memories at all. But well, since he remembered the first part quite well, he'll do his best to fulfill it. So here he was, training his archery skills.

Cheney's quite tired and worn out by the day's practice, but he wouldn't want to sit down on the cold, cold, eternally snow covered grounds under him. So he just stood and closed his eyes for a bit to rest them, thinking about things.

This was the outskirts of his hometown—a quiet, snowy town located in the lowlands of Kudik, with the majestic heights of the Kudik Peaks towering before it. Cheney, still a Hunter-in-training, had gone a little towards the woods and was out practicing by himself that day, irked over the fact that he wasn't able to concentrate well recently. His teacher would be quite disappointed if he finds out…

A sudden sound of laughter from behind him disrupted his meditation, making him turn to look.

"Oh, Cheney, that's not even a moving target—it's just a mark on a tree! What are you going to do for our hunting test tomorrow if you're distracted like that?"

It's Yuri, his fellow Hunter-in-training and classmate, teasing him as he walked closer while readying his own bow and arrow. He stopped next to Cheney, gracefully aiming and releasing a shot towards the practice target in one quick motion, almost without any effort. The arrow whistled through the air and hit the distant target flawlessly.

"Beat that," he grinned playfully at Cheney, who just glared back at him.

Yuri was older than him, and his archery skills overall was, well, much better. Although he wouldn't want to admit it, he couldn't deny it either. But he wasn't going to allow his senior and rival to just trample over him.

"Step aside! I'll show you…," he retorted, shoving Yuri to the side a little and then taking aim.

Cheney held his Ranger Bow with a steady arm, his other hand pulling its string, ready to fire. His eyes focused only on the target, he fired a confident shot and…

Missed…

By a few centimeters. Yuri laughed at him again.

"Even your worst shot on any other day ain't that bad—you're really distracted, aren't you?" he said, giving Cheney a little slap on the back. "Oh! Oh! Don't tell me you're actually nervous for tomorrow's test!"

"Whaa—?! I-I'm not!" Cheney replied hurriedly.

"C'mon, it shows _that_ clearly on your face. But well, Cheney…," Yuri smiled, "I think that's completely okay. It's a big test, after all. Since we're friends, you don't have to hide it just to look tough, y'know."

Cheney sighed, feeling a little calmer.

"Fine, you got me—I was more than just nervous, to tell the truth. In case of you, Yuri, I'm sure you'll pass, considering your skills. I have no idea about how well I myself will do, though," he replied, looking away before continuing.

"Tomorrow's it—the day our teacher will finally acknowledge us as proper, full-grown Hunters. Of course, only if we passed his test. I had always been waiting for that, so it means very much to me…"

"Ah, that promise to your father that you've told me," Yuri remembered, "He's going to be very proud of you when he comes back."

"My father…," Cheney continued, a look of disapproval on his face, "Just forget about him already. It's been over a decade since I last saw him! Don't even know if the guy's still alive, even. Personally, I think he's very irresponsible for just leaving my family like that, so his opinion wouldn't really matter to me. But…"

Cheney aimed at the practice target with his bow once again, concentrating fully on it. His posture and arms were steady. In a moment, he shot his arrow with no hesitation. It flew through the air and hit its target perfectly, right where Yuri had. Cheney then turned to look at his companion with determination.

"I had made a promise to become a strong Hunter and I won't go back on my word."

With that, he decided to leave the practice grounds. Yuri smiled at him then, knowing for sure that he'll do his best tomorrow. Well, he won't lose, either!

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**Trivial Trivia #1:**

Cheney is one of FFTA's secret characters, along with Littlevili, Eldena, Pallanza, Lini and Quin.

**Trivial Trivia #3:**

Cheney is a Hume and comes to your Clan as a Hunter.

**Trivial Trivia #6:**

Hunter [HNT]:

Human warrior that hunts monsters by bow.

Job requirements:

Archer A-ability x2

Uses Greatbows, Clothing-type armors, and Hats.

**Trivial Trivia #7:**

'Yuri' is a name picked from FFTA's random names list.

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**A/N:** I have a reason to make Kudik Cheney's hometown, but telling it now _might_ spoil the story, so I'll save it for later to be safe~ =w="


End file.
